First Meeting
by Karos
Summary: Early Hours #1: The meeting of Nancy and the Hardy Boys


First Meetings

By Miranda

::sigh:: don't own them…so sad…but one day I will!!! R/R

            "Hannah!! Where's mommy?"

            "Sweetie…mommy's in the hospital still."

            "But when is she coming home? I wanna play!"

            "Oh, honey…"

            The little girl looked at her housekeeper, who had suddenly started to cry.  "What?" she asked, but Hannah would only shake her head.

            Angrily, the girl stomped upstairs and ran to her room, slamming the door behind her with all of the strength in her four-year old body.  "Why won't anyone tell me where mommy is?!" she screamed as she through herself on her bed.  She sobbed for a long time before she fell asleep.

            When she woke up, the girl decided to run away to the hospital and find her mommy.  She quietly slipped dowstairs and out the front door.  Once outside, though, she didn't know what to do.  She walked for a very long time, her chubby legs pumping.  Eventually, she came to the playground that her mommy and daddy always took her to…at least until mommy got sick.  The girl walked over to the jungle-gym and sat down, crying.

            A moment latter the girl felt a tap on her shoulder.  She looked up to see a boy, her age, or only a little older.  He had dark hair and eyes.  "Whatsa matter?" he asked.

            The girl looked at him as she rubbed her fist across her face.  "Nuthin."

            "Then why ya cryin?"

            The girl looked at him disdainfully.  "Can't tell you, cause I can't talk to strangers."

            The boy pondered this for a moment.  "Well, if I tell you who I am, and you tell me who you are, we won't be strangers, will we?"

            The girl thought about it.  It made sense.  "My name's Nancy," she said softly.

            The boy smiled at her.  "My name's Frank.  Can you tell me why you were cryin now?"

            Nancy's face fell, and she started again to cry.  "My mommy's in the hospital, but no one will tell me what's wrong, and I miss her, and I don't have anyone to play with."

            Frank frowned, his young mind trying to find a way to make the pretty girl with the red hair happy.  Suddenly, he smiled.  "You can play with us!  Me and my brother and mom and dad and aunt."

            Nancy stared at him, her eyes large.  "You have a big family!  I don't have a brother or aunt!"

            Frank smiled sheepishly.  "You wanna play?"

            Nancy thought about it.  She still wanted her mommy, but by now she had realized she wasn't going to make it to the hospital by herself.  Besides, at least she had _someone to play with.  "Okay!" she said happily._

            Smiling, Frank took her hand and led her back to the sandbox where the rest of his family was.  "Daddy, look!" he shouted, dragging Nancy along.

            Fenton Hardy looked up from the sandcastle he was building with his younger son, Joe.  "Who's your pretty friend, Frank?" he asked.

            "Her name's Nancy.  Her mommy's sick and in the hospital, so I told her she could play with us!"

            "No pway wif us!" yelled Joe.  Not quite three, he had problems with most words, and loved to contradict his big brother.

            "Hello, Nancy.  My name's Fenton.  I'm Frank's dad."

            Nancy burst into giggles.  "You have a funny name!"

            Fenton laughed with her.  "Yes, I'm afraid I do.  Where's your daddy?" he asked, noticing the lack of adults on the grounds.

            "He's at the hospital with mommy.  He wouldn't let me come, so I was trying to get there myslef, but I got lost."  Nancy replied, her tears returning, but just a little.

            "Does anyone know you're here, sweetie?"

            Nancy decided she liked Frank's daddy, even if he had a funny name.  "Nope.  Hannah wouldn't tell me what's wrong with mommy, so I didn't tell her I was leaving."

            "Isn't she great, Daddy?" Frank asked, marvelling at his new friend who would go out WITHOUT ASKING A GROWNUP!!

            "I think so, Son.  But, Nancy, don't you think Hannah's worried?" Fenton gently asked.

            Uh-oh.  "I don't want her to be worried," Nancy said anxiously.

            "Hmm.  How about I take you home, and the tommorrow you can come play with the boys and me?  You could meet my wife and sister.  They'll like you a lot."  

            Nancy looked at Frank, unsure whether it was okay to leave her new friend so soon.  "Yeah, Nancy, we'll play tommorrow!" said Frank happily.

            "NO PWAY!!" hollered Joe, his chubby face turning red.

            "We'll talk about it later, Joey," said Fenton as he bent over to pick up his younger son.  "Can you tell me where you live?"

            "Uh-huh."

            "Alright, then, the boys and I will drive you home," said Fenton as he headed towards the car.

            Nancy followed, still holding Frank's hand.  "Your daddy's nice."

            "Yep, and he's really smart.  He's a detective.  He solves problems for people, and finds out stuff for them.  He knows everything.  I'm gonna be a detective too, when I grow up."

            Nancy thought about that, and how angry she was that she didn't know what was wrong with her mommy.  Frank said detectives knew everything, so maybe she should be a detective!!  "I'll be one, too," she said decidedly.

            "Neat!! We'll solve cases together!" cried Frank, happily swinging his new friend's arm.

            "Hurry it up, you two," called Fenton from the car.

            Grinning, Nancy and Frank ran towards him and their future, hand in hand.


End file.
